Electric branding apparatus.



No; 779,810. PATENTED JAN.10, 1905.

' D. O. SP'RBGHER.

ELECTRIC BRANDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION TILED NOV.15,1904.

ll. 1 I 7 ,2 h i l I (f AND UNITED STATES Patented January 10, 1905.

PATENT OEEIcE.

DAVID C. SPREOHER, OF KANSAS CITY, KANSAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN E. DORAN, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

ELECTRIC BRANDING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 779,810, dated January 10, 1905.

Application filed November 16, 1904. Serial No. 232,808.

To all whom it 771,007 concern.-

Be it known that I, DAVID C. SPRECHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of \Vyandotte and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Branding Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an electric brander; and my object is to produce apparatus of this character whereby a clean and clear-cut brand may be made upon hams, bacon, and other meats and substances without injuriously affecting such meat or substance and with either a high or low voltage.

A further object is toproduce apparatus of this character which is conveniently portable and of simple, strong, durable, and cheap construction.

' IVith these objects in view the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and organization, as hereinafter described and claimed, and in order that it may be fully understood reference is to be had to the accom 'panying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a perspective View of an electric branding apparatus embodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents a bottom plan view of the branding-electrode. Fig. 3 is a side view of the same.

Referring to the drawings in detail, 1 and 2 designate wires which may form part of an electric lighting or power circuit.

3 is a fuse-block mounted on said wires for the purpose of breaking the circuit should the voltage become dangerously high. 4 designates a switch arranged in said circuit, and preferably of the manually-operated type, as shown.

5 designates a large electrode electrically connected, as shown or in any other suitable manner, to wire 1.

6 designates a rheostat in circuit with wire 2, and 7 a binding-post for the terminal of the last-named wire, said binding-post, like large electrode 5, being secured,by preference, upon a table or other support 8, electrodes 5 and 7 being of course insulated from each other.

9 designates a flexible electric conductor conthis instance being the letters S ant: D I

with the word and between them.

Heretofore all attempts of which I have knowledge to brand meats by electricity resulted in failure, because the branding element had to be raised to a destructively high temperature that is to say, a temperature which would destroy the usefulness of the branding-iron, cook the meat, or brand the same at both sides, a result extremely objectionable to those engaged in the curing of meats, such as large packing companies. Another objection has been on the score of the expense where a high voltage was employed and the danger to the operator. These objections are overcome by my apparatus, which can be operated in conjunction with either a low or a high current and without the waste thereof or danger to the operator. Furthermore, my apparatus operates in connection with either a direct or alternating current. With the low current, such as an incandescent circuit, the rheostat may be dispensed with; but with a high current, such as an arc-light circuit, the rheostat or its equivalent is indispensable.

The essence of my invention resides in the relative proportions of the electrodes, as I have found that the brand is invariably made at the point of poorest contact. Consequently the branding flange or flanges are of materially smaller contact area than the other electrode, so that the meat or other substance placed upon the latter and having a wide or extended contact therewith shall not be burned by such contact, but shall be burned only at the point engaged by the branding flange or flanges.

As illustrated, the branding element is connected to wire 2 by a flexible conductor 9 and can therefore be placed upon or removed from the meat or other substance to be branded at the will of the operator.

By the apparatus shown the rheostat is of course manipulated to throw sufficient resistance in the path of a current of high voltage to generate approximately the same heat in the branding flange or flanges as is generated therein by a low current, such as flows through an incandescent circuit, and by means of this apparatus the meats can be branded properly with great rapidity.

The branding apparatusnamely, that part indicated by numerals 3 to 12, inclusive is of such proportion that it can be placed in a small grip and conveyed from one place to another and may be set up in circuit with a source of electriesupply wherever desired.

From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced electric branding apparatus which embodies the features of ad vantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of invention and which is obviously susceptible of modification in various particulars with out departing from the spirit and scope or sacrificing any 01 the advantages of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is*

1. In an electric branding apparatus, the combination of a pair of electrodes, one of which is in the form of a branding-iron and of materially less contact area than the other.

2. In an electric branding apparatus, the combination of a stationary electrode and a movable electrode, one being in the form of a branding-iron of materially less contact area than the other.

3. In an electric branding apparatus, a pair of conductors, a switch for making and breaking a circuit through said conductors, an electrode at one end of one of the conductors, and a movable electrode electrically connected to one end of the other conductor; said movable electrode being in the form of a branding-iron, having its contact-surface of materially less area than the first-named electrode.

a. In an electric branding apparatus, a pair of conductors, a switch for making and breaking a circuit through said conductors, a rheostat in circuit with one of said conductors, an electrode at one end of one of the conductors, and a movable electrode electrically connected to one end of the other conductor; said movable electrode being in the form of a brandingiron having its contact-surface of materially less area than the first-named electrode.

5. In an electric branding apparatus, a pair of conductors, a switch for makingand breale ing a circuit through said conductors, a rheostat in circuit with one of said conductors, an electric fuse in circuit with one of said conductors, an electrode at one end of one of the conductors, and a movable electrode electrically connected to one end of the other conductor; said movable electrode being in the form of a branding-iron, having its contact-surface of materially less area than the first-named electrode.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

DAVID C. SPRECHER.

\Vitnesses;

J. E. DORAN, G. Y. Tnomn. 

